John Adams
I loved the book, and now I am in love with the HBO miniseries. It is very understated and wonderfully acted. Its pathos is more pronounced by a complete lack of posturing that one would expect from a piece chronicling such momentous events. All speeches are given as if there were happening today in a local meeting hall in front of a small audience of mostly familiar faces, as I imagine they were originally presented way back when. My favorite moment in the first two episodes is the final vote for the declaration of independence. After a lot of wheeling and dealing, twelve colonies vote for and one abstains (NY). There is no cheering or immediate celebration, everybody sits very quietly as if afraid to move, to be the first to acknowledge the reality of what has happened. You can feel all wonder, and tension, and apprehension in the air. All representatives know that this is huge, one for the history books, but up to that very moment they may have believed, but nobody thought that it was possible. It is such a normal human reaction to the immensity of the events. I find it much more realistic and appealing than any exaggerated cheer that would have been much more melodramatic. I am really looking forward to the following episodes.